Union reportedly settles on Aigner

Reports from Bild, Der Spiegel and Süddeutsche Zeitung, published on Friday, 6 November, said the CDU and CSU will put forward Ilse Aigner as their candidate for the federal presidency. ARD's Berlin studio said it had the same information. The 61-year-old is currently president of the Bavarian Landtag and once served as federal agriculture minister in Angela Merkel's cabinet. If elected she would be the first woman to hold Germany's highest state office, succeeding Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD), whose term ends next year. Several outlets, including N-tv and DIE WELT, relayed the same account from party circles on the same day.

Support inside the CDU

Support for Aigner grew through Thursday, 5 November. By that afternoon seven of the 17 CDU state chairs had backed her, among them Manuel Hagel, head of the second-largest state association in Baden-Württemberg, and the three East German CDU minister-presidents. According to Handelsblatt, the CSU also supports her candidacy. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for a woman to become head of state without naming anyone, and he has so far kept his position to himself, as has Hendrik Wüst, who leads the largest state association in North Rhine-Westphalia. Asked by Handelsblatt, the Chancellery pointed to the party bodies that meet on Monday and declined to comment on the reports.

CDU state chairs backing Aigner
Backing Aigner by Thursday afternoon7Total CDU state chairs17

Planned schedule

According to the reports, Merz plans to announce the decision on Sunday, 8 November. That evening he is due to host the CDU presidium for dinner at the Konrad Adenauer House in Berlin, together with the chairs of the CDU/CSU parliamentary groups in the state parliaments. On Monday, 9 November, the presidium and the executive board of the federal CDU are scheduled to hold their regular meetings and discuss the candidacy. The sequence means the party's formal deliberations come only after the expected Sunday announcement, which is a timing detail the reports frame as a decision already taken.

Key dates in the Aigner nomination
  1. Seven of 17 CDU state chairs have backed Aigner by Thursday afternoon
  2. Bild, Der Spiegel and Süddeutsche Zeitung report the Union's choice of Aigner
  3. Merz is expected to announce the decision, with a CDU presidium dinner that evening
  4. CDU presidium and federal executive board hold regular meetings to discuss the candidacy
  5. Federal assembly of 1,260 members meets in Berlin to elect the new head of state

Open questions in the reporting

The reports differ on who stands behind the nomination. N-tv, citing party circles, said the Union and the SPD plan to propose Aigner, while the Spiegel-based report carried by DIE WELT names only the Union. Reuters, cited by newsORF, said Aigner already has backing from within the SPD and the Greens and would have a good chance of moving into Schloss Bellevue if nominated. The federal assembly of 1,260 members will meet in Berlin on 30 January 2027 to elect the successor. A profile published by N-tv notes that Aigner has decades of experience in state and federal politics and that she faced criticism as a minister.